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| ▲ NHK Galmoori reports on the sending of a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un by the family of Japanese abductees. | |
| Ⓒ NHK |
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Family members of the victims of Japanese abduction by North Korea have released a new message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
According to Japan’s NHK, on the 3rd, the Japanese abduction victims’ family association and the support group’rescue association’ held a joint meeting and appealed to Chairman Kim to respond to the North Korea-Japan summit suggested by the Japanese government, and appeal for the abduction victims to return to their country.
He said that if all the abductees returned to Korea, they would not oppose the normalization of diplomatic relations between North Korea and Japan.
In addition, he urged, “Although rescue activities are severely restricted due to the novel coronavirus, we will never give up.”
Mr. Sakie, the mother of Megumi Yokota, a symbol of the abduction victim, said at a press conference, “I want to meet my daughter as soon as possible as my body gets weaker over the years.” “He said.
“The victim’s family is aging… a sense of crisis without time”
Izuka, the son of another kidnapping victim Yaeko Taguchi, stressed, “Our survival period is limited, and it is meaningless if we cannot meet our family when we are healthy.”
“The Japanese government has put the return of the abductees back to their home country as a key task, but there is a need for change (with no results). I hope Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga sends a more advanced message to Chairman Kim to realize the North Korea-Japan summit.” Demanded.
It is the second time since February 2019 that they have sent a message to Chairman Kim. NHK said, “I sent a message again because of the sense of crisis that the remaining time was short due to the aging of the families of the abductees.”
Japanese government spokesman Kato Katsunobu, at a regular conference last December, emphasized, “We are aiming to resolve the unfortunate past between the two countries by resolving the most important Japanese abduction issue, and to normalize diplomatic relations.”
After denying the abduction of Japanese citizens, North Korea acknowledged the abduction of 13 Japanese citizens and promised to prevent a recurrence after the then-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited North Korea in September 2002.
However, in Japan, a total of 17 people were abducted, and 12 people are still unsolved except for the five who returned to Korea after former Prime Minister Koizumi’s visit to North Korea. On the other hand, North Korea still remains an issue, refuting that all victims have returned or died, and that the other four have not been kidnapped.